The Potter Triplets and the Sorcerer's Stone
by ChattyTopic
Summary: Lily, Daisy, and Ivy Potter are not ordinary girls. For one, they lived in a cupboard for most of their lives, they are orphans who live with the horrible Dursley family, and they happen to be famous witches. Now they are entering a world entirely different than what they are used to, and to top it off sinister things are happening. Can they and their new friends help at all?
1. Ch 1: The Girls Who Lived

**This is a triplet!fem!Harry story. I've been asked a lot on different accounts why even bother retelling the series with just these random differences - different genders, extra characters, different houses, etc. Here is my answer: FOR FUN. That's what fanfiction is about, all right? **

**Also, I won't have any Mary-Sue talk here. I'm a grown-up actual author, and I know hwo to write (though I don't find anything wrong with MS's, though they can be annoying). Before you call any of my characters a Mary Sue, first pretend they are male - the same character, same actions, but male. Then tell me if you think that's a 'Gary Stu'. Okay? **

**Anyway, this will quote the book a good deal, but the plot will be different, and not just because of the characters. Two of the girls' friends Aaric MacDonald and Euterpe Noble, were taken from my first ever fanfiction, The Twins Who Lived and the Sorcerer's Stone, which you can find if you search on here. **

**I have about four chapters done already, plus it's Christmas time, so updates should be fairly regular for awhile. Please let me know what you think, or follow or favourite so that I know there's interest.**

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**Chapter One: The Girls Who Lived**

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley who lived at number four Privet drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last sort of people who you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or unusual, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

But then on the night of October thirty-first, something happened that shattered their picture-perfect lives.

Vernon Dursley had noticed strange things all day: funny looking people in cloaks, fireworks, owls flying hither-pitter, and a very small, squeaky man had even hugged him!

He tried to brush it all off as just haphazard, but then on his way to his car at the end of the day, he overheard a whispered conversation that greatly worried him between several cloaked people.

"…Yes, the Potter's…"

"That's what I heard…their daughters, the three, the triplets…"

"Lily, Daisy, and Ivy, yes, that's what Dedalus told me…"

Vernon Dursley's large, shiny forehead wrinkled. Potter was the last name of Petunia's dratted sister and her husband. And – unless he was mistaken – Lily, Daisy, and Ivy were the names of their three daughters, the triplets. Could that mean that whatever was going on was related to…their kind?

He shuddered, then shook himself, thinking that he was being silly. He was sure that the names weren't the same…and Potter wasn't a very uncommon surname…perhaps Linda, Diane, and Irene were the girls' names…

Yes, that would be it. He straightened up, feeling better, and enjoyed his normal drive home.

But things only got worse. After dinner that night there was a very unusual news alerts about owls and fireworks, and Vernon hesitantly approached the subject with his wife.

"Er-Petunia?" she nodded to show was listening. "What were the names of the…the Potter girls? Linda, Diane, and Irene, weren't they?"

Petunia stiffened as she always did when the subject of her sister came up. Her lips tight, she answered, "Lily, Daisy, and Ivy. Nasty common names, you ask me."

"Quite." Agreed Vernon, but privately he was worried. What were the possibilities of triplets with the same names as their relatives linked to strange events? He tried not to think about it…

After all, he thought that night, finally calming himself a bit, there was no way it could affect them, whatever it was.

"I should have known you would be here, Professor McGonagall." Said an old man to a tabby cat just outside the Dursley home right as Mr. Dursley fell into an uneasy sleep.

The man had long, silvery hair and a beard equally as long, and was dressed in dark blue robes and buckled boots. He was on a street where everything from his name – which was Albus Dumbledore – to his boots were unwelcome, but the street was dark, thanks to a nifty device in his pocket.

He sat down on the brick wall outside number 4, next to a tabby cat that had been there the whole day.

Slowly the cat changed until it was a person, and the stern-faced woman wore square spectacles that were quite similar to the markings that had been on the cat's face.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked crossly.

Albus Dumbledore's eyes glittered behind his half-moon spectacles. "My dear Professor, never in my life have I seen a cat sit that stiffly."

As the two professors sat, they discussed the recent goings-on – the Potters had been killed, Lord Voldemort had been defeated when trying to murder one of the baby girls, and already Lily, Daisy, and Ivy were famous. Professor Dumbledore informed a sceptical Professor McGonagall that Rubeus Hagrid was bringing the girls to live at their relatives' home, the very same place where they now sat, and moments after he said so, a giant motorbike landed on the street with a crash. Both professors stood up, looking totally unalarmed, and walked over to great the man riding the bike.

If the bike was huge, it was nothing compared to the one who rode it. Standing twice as tall as a normal man, and several times as wide, he kicked down the stand and stepped off.

"Professor Dumbledore sir, Professor McGonagall," said the man gruffly. He had wild black hair and a bear to match, but his black eyes were kind and gentle as he reached into his enormous jacket and pulled out first one bundle, then two, then three. They all fit easily in hands the size of trash-can lids, and he held them carefully for a moment before passing them to Dumbledore. "Wonderful babes, so well behaved – they fell asleep just as we was flyin' over Bristol."

Dumbledore carried the bundles over to the doorstep of number four.

"Do you really think it wise, Albus?" asked Professor McGonagall nervously. "I've watched these Muggles all day, and they're the worst sort of Muggles imaginable! I saw the boy kicking his mother as they walked down the street, screaming for sweets! These girls will be famous! There won't be a child in our world who doesn't know their names!"

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, setting down the three babies. "They're better off growing up away from all that." He tucked a letter into the blanket of one of the triplets – Lily, to be exact.

The triplets couldn't know what would happen the next day – being awoken by their Aunt's scream as she went to put out the milk – or in the months to follow – being poked and pinched by Dudley.

They never guessed what would happen in the summer of their eleventh birthday…


	2. Ch 2: The Trip to the Zoo

**Thank you to_ toile grant_ and _Lily Von Schweetz_ for favourite and alerting respectively! **

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**Chapter Two: The Trip to the Zoo**

"Get up! Get up!" yelled Aunt Petunia, banging on the door of the cupboard under the stairs at Number Four, Privet Drive. "NOW!"

"Ow!" cried Lily Harriette Potter as she shot up in surprise, her legs tangling in the sheets and causing her to fall in between the wall and their little cot.

"What was that?" Aunt Petunia demanded.

"Nothing, Aunt Petunia," Daisy Petunia Potter piped up, trying to pull Lily free. "We'll be right there."

They heard the clip-clop sounds of their Aunt's footsteps as she walked away, and Ivy Jamesina Potter sighed for all three of them. The triplets sat up and began to get ready.

The closet was rather large, but just large enough for a dirty cot that the almost-eleven-year-old triplet's shared, a shelf that held cleaning supplies, a shelf for their few possessions, and a cardboard box that contained their clothes.

It was early, for summertime, but it was their cousin Dudley's birthday today, and _of course_ everything had to be perfect.

Between them, the Potter girls had nine shirts and skirts, six pairs of socks, and three shoes, all of them hand-me-downs from their Aunt. Lily, Daisy, and Ivy were un-identical apart from the bright green eyes, pale skin, strange scars, and bony forms they all shared; Lily had long, thin, straight black hair, Daisy had tones of tangled, frizzy, curly orange hair and freckles, and Ivy had very, very long thick wavy red hair. Daisy was the tallest, while Ivy was the shortest, but there was only a few inches difference between them. Despite their differences in appearances, however, and the subtle quirks in their personalities, the Potter triplets were very much alike, and loved each other very much. Perhaps it was because they only had one another in the world to care for them, but they hardly ever fought or disagreed, and always took care of one another.

Hidden away against their hairlines on the right side of each girl's faces, however, were identical scars, shaped like lightning bolts. They were told by their Aunt and Uncle that they received them in the car accident that killed their parents. The girls found this hard to believe: Three people in a car accident that got the exact same scar in the same place? They thought it was more likely that they were just birthmarks, but they got in trouble if they asked questions or argued, so they said nothing to their family.

Lily pulled on an ugly tan shirt with pink flowers and a white peter pan collar, and a faded blue pleated skirt that was much to long for her, though she rolled it up three times. Daisy wore a large orange shirt with white polka dots and a formerly-white skirt. Ivy ended up in a salmon pink shirt with an uncomfortably ruffled collar and a much-too-big bosom, and a torn but clumsily patched blue skirt.

Sighing, Daisy stroked a finger over their pet – well, more her pet than her sister's, as they all agreed. Her name was Yolanda, and she was a giant leopard moth. Barely fitting in the girl's hand, Yolanda was soft and white with black spots, and cared to flutter around their cupboard, sit on the girls' shoulders as they did homework, and eat pieces of snuck lettuce and berries and the like. Whenever the Dursleys were gone or busy and the triplets had yard work to do, they took Yolanda out and let her flutter around and eat and generally relax in the sun. She always came back of her own free will, and the girls knew that she loved them in her own way.

"Sorry, but you have to stay." Daisy said, pulling out some orange, dandelions, lettuce, basil, and banana for the moth to snack on. While the girls often went without food for days as punishments, they were not about to let their pet starve, and made sure to always have plenty of food for her. Yolanda seemed to pout, but brushed her feelers on each girl's hand affectionately and began to eat the basil.

Then the three girls each tried to brush their hair – and failed miserably, as Lily's stuck out due to its tendency to be unnaturally dry, Daisy got her brush stuck in her tangled hair, and Ivy couldn't reach the bottom of her own – then they quickly got out of the closet and went to the kitchen. Their Aunt was no where to be seen, likely taking out Dudley's many presents, but they knew what to do.

"I'll get the bacon and sausages," said Lily.

"I've got the eggs and toast," sighed Ivy.

"Then I'll make pancakes."

It didn't take them long to make the large, delicious breakfast for their relatives, and Dudley and Uncle Vernon walked in sleepily just as Daisy had finished the last pancake. The girls set the table as Dudley counted his presents.

"Thirty-four…Thirty-five…uh…" Dudley had done well so far, but large numbers confused him.

"Thirty-six, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia kindly.

"I know! Thirty-six…" Dudley thought for a minute. It seemed to be taking a great effort, because his face was slightly red when his finally cried, "Thirty six! But last year-last year I had thirty-seven!" he banged his giant fists on the table, and all the plates bounced a few inches.

The Potter girls exchanged looks and ate faster, sensing trouble.

"Well…yes dear, but while we're out, we were going to buy you two new presents!" said Aunt Petunia hurriedly. "How's that, popkin?"

Dudley thought for a second, then said, "All right," and continued eating.

Then the phone rang, and Aunt Petunia got up to get it, glaring at the girls who were sitting quietly in the corner with the extra pancakes and toast, as there was no room at the table with all Dudley's presents.

"Dursley residence," said Aunt Petunia cheerfully. "Oh, hello Mrs. Figg…Yes…of course…oh that's terrible!" she cried, looking rather upset, "Well…no that's quite all right…get well soon, dear…good bye." She hung up and turned to Uncle Vernon. "Mrs. Figg has broken her leg. She can't take them," she pointed her thumb at the triplets as if they were a pile of grubs or a misbehaving dog.

Uncle Vernon groaned, and Dudley burst into (very fake) tears, banging his fat fists on the table as he began his tantrum. "I…don't…want…them…to…go!" he yelled between sobs. "They…always...ruin…everything!"

Aunt Petunia rushed forward to comfort her Diddykins, glaring at the girls like it was their fault.

"Well…" said Uncle Vernon, "There's nothing for it. We'll have to take them."

The girls grinned at each other. Usually on Dudley's birthday they were left in the care of Mrs. Figg, a batty old woman with a cabbage-smelling house and dozens of cats. She was nicer to them than the Dursley's, but made them eat cottage cheese and look at pictures of cats. They had never been to the zoo before…

The Potter triplets, hardly believing their luck, found themselves ordered out of the room to clean up and get ready for the zoo. Soon, Dudley's friend Piers Polkiss arrived, and Dudley promptly stopped his _'I don't want them to go~!'_ tantrum. Piers was a scrawny thing with a rat–like face, and his job in Dudley's gang was to hold people's arms while Dudley hit them. Lily, Daisy, and Ivy all looked forward to one day giving him a nice hard kick.

Half an hour later, the Potters were vibrating with excitement in the backseat of the Dursley's car on the way to the zoo, even with the warning Uncle Vernon had given them just minutes ago still ringing in their heads.

"I'm warning you now, girls." He said, holding Ivy to the wall with one hand and Lily with the other, Daisy crammed in the middle. "Any funny business, anything at all, and you'll all be in that cupboard until Christmas. Understood?"

"We're not going to do anything!" Lily protested, not sure if she should be afraid or angry.

"Honestly!" Ivy echoed.

"We'll behave!" Daisy said firmly.

But Uncle Vernon, surprisingly, didn't believe them. It was true that strange things happened around the girls, like their hair growing back when Aunt Petunia cut it horribly, or when their teacher's wig suddenly turned blue, or when they ended up on top of the school cafeteria while being chased by Dudley's gang, or when the paint on the back fence dried exceptionally fast, but the girls knew that there were rational explanations for all these things. They had hated their hair so much that their bodies would work overtime to fit it, the teacher's wig must have been affected by a combination of her strange hair spray and the sunlight, the wind had to have picked them up mid-jump, and the yard must have been dry and windy that day. However, their relatives wouldn't hear any of their so-called 'excuses'.

The car ride in the backseat with Dudley and Piers was like the seventh circle of hell for the girls, who sat on the left side of the car together, while Dudley and Piers took the right two seats. Dudley and Piers were both loud and annoying and loved to pinch and shove the girls into one another. While they drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. It was one of his favourite things to do; he liked to complain about the bank, the triplets, the ministry, the triplets, the neighbours, the triplets, work, and the triplets. Today, his topic was motorcycles.

"…Speeding along, weaving in and out like that, so inconsiderate," he grumbled while Petunia nodded her agreement.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle the other night!" Lily exclaimed unexpectedly.

"Me too! Just yesterday!" Daisy suddenly remembered.

"And me!" said Ivy excitedly. The triplets often had similar dreams, like visions of green light that they assumed was from the car crash that killed their parents. "It was flying."

"Yeah!"

Uncle Vernon slammed on the breaks, nearly hitting the car in front of them.

"MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" he roared at the girls, as if they really thought such things.

"We know that! They were only dreams!" Lily protested. Personally, the girls thought their uncle was being stupid. Everyone knew motorcycles didn't fly! But she still wished she hadn't said anything, as did the others; the Dursleys hated anything out–of–the–ordinary.

Soon, they were at the zoo, and the girls were having the time of their lives. The Dursleys had bought them cheap ice pops at the entrance, and they loved the rarity of being out of the house. After wandering around for a while, they made it inside to the reptile house. It was cool inside, and Lily, Ivy, and Daisy relaxed, wandering around, reading the plaques and admiring the animals.

"Come on, move!" Dudley's loud voice brought the triplets out of their discussion of whether snake and lizard scales were interesting or a bit creepy (their teacher had once let their class pet her harmless bald python). Dudley was beside the girls now, with Piers of course, which made sense because they had been standing before the biggest snake in the place.

Dudley rapped on the glass and yelled again. Lily and Daisy sighed.

_Why can't he just leave him alone?_ Ivy wondered. It was bad enough when he was terrible with them – he didn't even _know_ the snake.

"Dad, make it move!" Dudley wined in his father's direction.

Uncle Vernon wandered over and tapped on the glass. The snake didn't move. Dudley banged on it with his fist.

"Leave him alone!" Ivy finally snapped, turning to her cousin and glaring. He ignored her, deemed the snake boring, and he and Piers wandered off.

"Sorry about that," Ivy said to the snake.

"I bet you get that all the time," Lily said sympathetically. "People banging their hands on your cage, pressing their ugly faces on it. Ugh."

The snake blinked sleepily and raised its head. It nodded.

The triplets raised their eyebrows and shared shocked looks. They didn't know snakes could nod. Daisy glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed. They hadn't. So she turned back to the snake.

"You can understand us?" she asked slowly. The snake hissed and nodded again. It glanced at Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then shook its head wearily, as if to say 'I get that all the time'.

"I bet." Daisy said, wrinkling her small nose. "It must be horrible."

The snake nodded vigorously.

"We've never talked to a snake before…" said Ivy, leaning closer to the glass. "Do you talk to people often?"

The snake shook its head.

"You're from Brazil, right?" Lily asked, nodding towards the plaque in front of the snake's cage. It nodded again. "Was it nice there? Do you miss your family?"

The snake jabbed its tail at the sign.

"Oh…" the triplets said. There was a line of text at the bottom she hadn't read: THIS SPECIMEN WAS BRED AT THE ZOO.

"Us too." Daisy said, sadness in her voice. "We don't remember our parents at all–"

Suddenly, Piers appeared behind them. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! DUDLEY! COME LOOK AT THE SNAKE! QUICK!"

Lily let out a cry as she was suddenly pushed hard onto the ground, her sisters stumbling next to her. She winced, seeing her bleeding knee and ripped stockings and then glaring up at Dudley as he shouted for his mother and father to come see what the snake was doing. Lily was so mad she was shaking, and Ivy and Daisy helped her up, trying to soothe her. Lily was sick of Dudley pushing them around like that. She and her sisters had just as much right as him to see that snake, and Dudley needed to learn sooner or later that he just couldn't shove people out of his way. Something had to be done.

Lily glared at her cousin as Daisy put a plaster on her leg (she always kept a nicked supply of them for the girls' frequent injuries); Lily was so angry she didn't even notice. Dudley's chubby face was pressed against the glass cage, sneering at the snake, and then something unexpected happened.

The glass vanished.

It was suddenly just completely gone, and Dudley and Piers both fell head over heels into the pool inside the snake cage. They screamed bloody murder as the snake seemed to glare right at them, then slithered out onto the floor.

The triplets stared with wide eyes, frozen where they stood as the snake stopped before them.

"Brazzzzzzzzil here I come. Thankssssss, amigosss." It hissed.

"A–anytime!" Lily said nervously, grinning, her anger almost gone. The snake slithered for the exit, hissing at people's feet and snapping playfully at their ankles. There was a sudden stampede for the exits as everyone tried to escape from the snake. Meanwhile, the triplets ducked away into a corner so that their aunt and uncle wouldn't suspect they had anything to do with it, though how could they really? They had only talked to the snake, strange as that may have been.

The girls were all giggling and watching a terrified Dudley and Piers climb out of the tank, soaking wet, when Lily suddenly shrieked.

"Hello there, little ssssspeaker," hissed the most beautiful snake any of them had every seen. It had large scales and was varying shades of purple on the top, yellow and orange on its belly. Its large eyes were green and blue, and the girls just stared for a moment.

"My name is Zzzzzuri. I am going to adopt you." It – she? – said firmly.

The triplets stared, mouths opened, dumbfounded.

Lily found her voice first. "A-adopt us? What do you mean? And why did you call me – us – speakers?"

The snake seemed to chuckle as it wound itself around her leg, climbing up her clothes until she was on Lily's arm. The girl noticed that the snake was about two feet long, and a bit heavy.

"I am going to go home with you. I'll be your…pet, sssso to sssspeak. Or you'll be mine. I like you three. You ressscued Josssé and embarrasssssed that rude fat boy." Daisy snorted at this description of Dudley. "And I called you ssspeakersss becaussse you are. You have the ability to talk to ssssnakesss."

The girls shared looks. Talking to snakes was not the strangest thing they'd ever done, and they had always wanted to each have their own pet. Of course Daisy had Yolanda back home, but if Lily had Zuri and they could find Ivy an animal, that would be lovely. And though the snake made it seem like his mind was made up and he was going no matter what they said, the girls felt that they could sense that he was wary of them saying no.

Lily grinned. "All right then, but you have to be careful not to let our family see you, and not to…bite anyone."

Zuri hissed her agreement and nodded. Daisy glanced back at the Dursleys and saw Dudley being wrapped up by a zoo worker while the manager gave Petunia some tea and apologized profusely. She gestured to the others that they should move, and Zuri slithered into Lily's shirt, which wasn't as uncomfortable as one would think, and they slowly joined the Dursleys and Piers, looking properly concerned and holding in their laughs with great effort.

It worked perfectly until, in the car ride back as Piers and Dudley were reliving their 'near-death experience', Piers said excitedly, "You were talking to it, right guys? I know you were, Lily."

The triplets froze, and their uncle's glare could have melted steal.

When they pulled into Number Four after dropping off Piers, Petunia and Dudley rushed in, followed by Vernon and the triplets, who clasped hands nervously. The girls knew that something very bad was about to happen, and they found they were right when Vernon grabbed Lily's arms and held her to the wall, glaring fiercely.

"What did you do?" he growled, squeezing her arms so tightly she yelped.

"I didn't do anything, honest!" she cried, her eyes starting to fill with tears from the pain in her arms. Could Uncle Vernon possibly have the strength to break them? She hoped not. She could feel Zuri wrapped around her belly, trying to hold on without hurting her, and hoped that the snake and her sisters at least would be safe.

He ignored her, pulling her up closer to his height. All her weight was on her arms.

"LYING BRAT!" he roared.

"LET HER GO!" Daisy suddenly yelled, finding her courage and kicking at her uncle's legs, "SHE TOLD YOU SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, NONE OF US DID! HOW COULD SHE MAKE THE GLASS DISSAPEAR ANYWAY, YOU STUPID OAF!"

"YOU BLAME EVERYTHING ON US BUT HOW COULD ANY OF IT BE OUR FAULT?" Ivy shrieked, yanking at Vernon's hands, trying to pry him off her sister.

Vernon was turned even redder than normal, and Lily could see a vein on his forehead bulging out. A particularly hard kick from the black-haired girl got his stomach, and he pulled her off the wall before slamming her back against it, jarring her head but especially hurting her back.

"STOP IT! STOP! LET HER GO!" yelled Daisy and Ivy, both crying from anger and fear.

"You nasty, lying, ungrateful brats!" Vernon growled, ignoring them and their repeated punches and kicks. "You're going to pay for that, girl, you're going to wish you were never born."

Lily screamed as the pressure on her arms increased even more, tears running down her face. Daisy and Ivy watched in horror; they had never seen their usually unafraid sister like this, nor their uncle act this horribly. He slammed Lily into the wall again, and this time her head hit first. Stars burst under her eyelids, and she groaned in pain.

"I'm not lying!" she managed weakly. She couldn't help but defend herself. "One minute the glass was there, then it was gone! It was like magic!"

"THERE. IS. NO. SUCH. THING. AS. MAGIC!" Vernon roared, and with that he opened the cupboard door, tossed Lily inside, then Daisy and Ivy, slammed it and locked it.

"You three freaks won't be eating for months, so I hope you stocked up today." He said cruelly, and slammed the grate shut, leaving the girls in darkness.

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**Just so you know, I chose Yolanda's name because Giant Leopard Moths originate in southern North America, such as Mexico, and Yolanda is a traditional Hispanic name. Zuri was named because Rough Scaled Bush Vipers originate in Africa, like Swahili, and Zuri is a Swahili name.**


	3. Ch 3: An Abundance of Letters

**Here's the third chapter, the fourth should be up soon too; I hope you like it!**

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**Chapter Three: An Abundance of Letters**

The boa constrictor escape earned the girls their longest punishment ever. By the time they (and by extension, Yolanda and Zuri) were let out, the summer holidays had started, Dudley had broken a fourth of his birthday presents, and managed to use his new bike to knock poor Mrs. Figg over as she tried to cross the street on her crutches.

The triplets, though they didn't hate school, were glad it was over. However, now there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited Privet drive every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, and the girls reasoned that Dudley was the leader because he was the biggest and stupidest. The other boys were all happy to join Dudley in his favourite sport: Potter-hunting.

Needless to say, the triplets spent much of their time out of the house. They wandered around the neighbourhood, talking about the end of summer, where they could see a ray of hope. Dudley would be off to Smeltings, Vernon's Alma Mater, while the girls would be going to the local school, Stonewall. While Stonewall wasn't rumoured to be very fun, at least they would be away from Dudley for most of the year, affording an opportunity to, perhaps, make some friends.

Aunt Petunia glared at them as usual when they entered the kitchen one morning to a horrible smell wafting from the sink. The triplets glanced inside and looking questioningly at each other. It looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"What's this?" Lily asked Aunt Petunia. The woman's lips tightened as they always did when one of them dared to ask a question.

"Your new school uniforms," She said shortly.

"Oh," Ivy said, her voice heavy with false innocence. "I didn't realize they had to be so wet."

"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia while Daisy covered a giggle with a feeble cough. "I'm dying some of mine and Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."

The girls thought this was unlikely, but they cooked the breakfast and tried not to think about how much they would be teased at Stonewall High. They would still be away from Dudley, at the least.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in at around eight, and made faces at the smell from the triplets' uniforms. When Aunt Petunia had her back turned to kiss Uncle Vernon on the cheek, Dudley kicked at Lily's legs while aiming a swat at Daisy's head and shoving Ivy with the other arm. It was his usual good–morning to the triplets, impossible to dodge because although Dudley was large and dim–witted, he rarely missed. Ivy was glad that Zuri was upstairs and not hidden under her shirt at the moment.

The girls glared at Dudley as they set the plates on the table and everyone began to eat. A few moments later, they all heard the click of the mail slot and letters flopping onto the mat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his newspaper.

"Make Daisy get it."

"Get the mail, Daisy."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke 'er with your Smelting stick, Dudley."

Daisy deftly dodged the stick and went to get the mail. Six things lay on the mat; a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, who was on vacation, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and…wait – letters for the girls?

Daisy picked them up and stared at them, her heart beating fast. No one had ever written to either of before. Who would write to them anyway? They had no friends, no other relatives…they didn't even belong to the library, and so never go so much as a missive complaining about overdo books. Yet here it was, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake, even if Daisy had the smarts of Dudley's friend Malcolm:

_Mr. I. Potter_

_The cupboard under the stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

()

_Miss D. Potter_

_The cupboard under the stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

()

_Miss L. Potter_

_The cupboard under the stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

()

The envelopes were thick and heavy, made of yellow parchment. The addresses were written in shinning emerald ink, and there was no stamp. Turning an envelope over, Daisy noticed a red wax seal with a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a snake, all around a letter H.

"Hurry up, girl!" Uncle Vernon shouted. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" he chuckled as if people's mail exploding was humorous to him.

Daisy hurried into the kitchen, handing Uncle Vernon the bill and postcard, and her sister's their letters, giving them an _I know, it's weird isn't it?_ look. Ivy and Lily stared at her incredulously, and then started to open them.

Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, tossed it aside and turned over the postcard.

"Marge is ill," He told Aunt Petunia sadly, "Ate a funny whelk…"

"Dad!" Dudley said suddenly, "Dad, they've got something!"

The triplets were just about to unfold their letters when they were snatched roughly from their hands.

"Hey!" cried Ivy, reaching for hers.

"Those are ours!" echoed Daisy with a glare.

"Ha! Who'd be writing to you?" Sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking a letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from its normal ruddy red to green faster than the girls had ever seen it before.

"P-p-p-Petunia!" He gasped, looking at her with wide eyes.

Dudley tried to grab the letters, but Uncle Vernon held them both out of his chubby son's reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and scanned it. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!"

They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Lily, Daisy, Ivy, and Dudley were still in the room. The girls couldn't imagine what could possibly worry their aunt and uncle so much, and weren't sure if they should be afraid of what could be in there, or excited.

Dudley wasn't used to being ignored like his cousins, and gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read those letters," He said loudly.

"We want to read them," Lily said loudly. "As they're _ours_."

"Get out, all of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.

The triplets didn't move, and neither did Dudley.

"Give us our letters!" cried Ivy.

"Let me see it!" Dudley demanded.

"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he grabbed the children and threw them out into the hall, slamming the door after them. Dudley and the Potters immediately scrambled to see who would listen at the door. By brute force, Dudley ended up at the key hole. The Potters were forced to press their ears to the cracks between the door and the wall to try and hear something.

"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "Look at the addresses – how could they possibly know where they sleep? Goodness, y–you don't think they're watching the house?"

"Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.

"But what should we do, Vernon? Perhaps we write back? Tell them we don't want–"

"No," said Uncle Vernon after a minute. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer….yes, that's best…, we won't do anything…"

"But–"

"I'm not having that in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took the brats in we'd stamp out all that dangerous nonsense?"

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before: he visited the triplets in their cupboard.

"Where're our letters?" demanded Ivy the moment he had squeezed through the door.

"Who's writing to us?" Lily said quickly. The girls had never wanted something so bad in their lives as to know what was in those letters.

"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I've burned them."

"It was not a mistake," Daisy said angrily. The triplets hated being treated like they were stupid.

"It had our cupboard on it!" Ivy cried, tears in her eyes. Though the girls were tough, they all hated injustice. The Dursleys never did anything remotely kind for them – was it so much too just ask for the mail that was addressed to them?

"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon. The triplets winced slightly, while a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked rather painful.

"Er – yes, Daisy, Ivy, Lily – about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking…you're really getting a bit big for it…we think it might be nice if you two just moved into Dudley's second bedroom."

"Why?" Lily asked curiously. The girls started to feel a bit excited at the idea, but it wasn't like the Dursleys to be nice.

"Don't ask questions!" snapped their uncle, "Just take all this stuff upstairs, now."

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The Dursley house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Vernon's sister, Marge, who was horrible and hated the Potter girls almost more than the Dursleys themselves), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took the Potters one trip upstairs to move everything they owned from the cupboard.

Dudley's second bedroom was disgusting, littered with not only his extra toys and the broken ones, but also trash, bits of old food, and dirty laundry he had discarded in there. Aunt Petunia boxed up the things that Dudley still liked, put them against one wall, and told the girls they weren't to touch any of it. The old spare bed that had been in the room stayed, their cot was brought up, and Petunia gave them a couple of extra quilts to make a pallet. Now they each had their own sleeping area, and a shabby dresser for their clothes.

"Yesterday, I would have given two day's food to be up here." Ivy said glumly, laying on the bed once everything was in place. Zuri hissed and nudged her chin with her head. Even though it still smelled horrible, and the girls had to agree to alternate sleeping areas to be fair it was still a room they could stand up and move around in.

"Me too." Lily agreed, sitting on the floor and un–tying and re–tying her shoes. "Now I just wish we had the letters."

Daisy and Ivy nodded their agreement, though Daisy's eyes were on Yolanda, who was fluttering around the room excitedly. The girls felt rather selfish for wanting two simple letters when they had a real bedroom for the first time in their lives, but they couldn't help but be curious. Perhaps what was in those letters would change their lives – if they could ever read them.

But realistically, they highly doubted that, even more so than getting a nice present for their upcoming birthday. After all, they were just pieces of paper.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The next morning at breakfast, Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, been sick on purpose, whacked his father with the Smelting's stick, thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and kicked his mother, but he still didn't have his second bedroom back. Daisy was thinking about this time yesterday and wishing she had opened the letters in the hall, or just stuffed them in their cupboard. Lily was wishing the same. Ivy was pushing her eggs around, not feeling hungry but trying to make herself eat – the girls couldn't really rely on meals at Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.

When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to the triplets for some reason, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting's stick all the way down the hall. After a moment he shouted, "There're more! Miss I. Potter, the bed, the smallest bedroom, Miss D. Potter, the pallet, the smallest bedroom, Miss L. Potter, the cot, the smallest bedroom–"

With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt up from his seat and ran down the hall with the triplets right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letters from him, which was made more difficult by the fact the Lily had grabbed Uncle Vernon from behind around the neck, Ivy had his feet, and Daisy was trying to force the letter from Dudley's pudgy hands as well. After a minute of confused fighting in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting's stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, both letters clutched in his meaty hand.

"Go to your cupboard – I mean, your – your bedroom," he wheezed to the girls. "Dudley – go – j–just go."

Not an hour later, Petunia came into their smelly room, ignored their questions, and told them to pack up all their things again. Worried that they were going back to the cupboard, or even somewhere worse, the girls hesitated until Aunt Petunia snapped that they were going to move into the guest bedroom now.

The girls stared at each other. The guest bedroom was _nice_. It was always clean and tastefully decorated and comfortable – there was no way the Dursleys would really let them…

But there they were, two hours later, each sitting on their own bed – _actual_ beds – in a state of shock.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had taken out the old queen-sized bed, put that in Dudley's second bedroom, and had three used bed frames and mattresses delivered, which Petunia set up with quilts and pillows. Everything besides the bed had been left, and now the girls had two small bookshelves, two bedside tables with small lamps, a dresser, a closet, and a wardrobe, and even a desk and chair. The walls were light brown as they had always been, the curtains framing the large window that looked out over the back garden coloured slate blue, and the carpet the same brown as the rest of the upstairs, but clean unlike it had been in Dudley's second bedroom.

The room was lovely. Perhaps it wasn't fancy or expensive or to their exact tastes, but the beds were comfortable and the white headboards and footboards were clean and minimally carved. The quilts were warm for winter, with thinner ones for summer, their aunt had left all the books that had been in there where they were, and they managed to knick some of Dudley's as well – (he never read them, of course). There were little trinkets and decorations and a nice ceiling fan, as well as a floor lamp between the desk and the dresser. It smelled like vanilla and citrus (and faintly like Marge's dogs, but oh well). The windowsill was perfect for Zuri to soak up some sun on, and they could open the window and let Yolanda flutter in and out.

Some of the books left behind were a set of encyclopaedias, and the girls spent some of that first day in their room looking up Zuri and Yolanda. They learned that Zuri was a rough scaled bush viper, and that Yolanda was a giant leopard moth. They also learned what kinds of foods to feed their animals, and resolved to collect as much as they could the next day.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

The next day there were twelve letters addressed to the triplets – with their new room mentioned on it. Petunia shredded them in the food processor, and Vernon ordered the girls up to their room before he left for a busy Friday at work.

"They know we've moved from the cupboard," Ivy said once they were upstairs.

"And they know we didn't get the first letter," added Daisy. "So that means they'll try again, right?"

"They have to," agreed Lily quickly, hope in her voice. "They won't give up easily, I bet, whoever they are."

"They won't." Zuri hissed confidently, and Yolanda nodded her little head. The children had gotten used to the fact that both the snake and the moth could understand everything they said, even if Yolanda couldn't talk.

"We have to help them this time," said Ivy, biting her lip. "But what could we do?"

They both thought for a moment. Daisy was hanging off her bed with Yolanda perched on the headboard, Lily was pacing the room, and Ivy was sitting on the floor with Zuri circling her. This was one of the many advantages to finally having a room; in their cupboard, they could barely sit up straight, much less move around.

"I've got it!" Lily suddenly exclaimed with a grin.

The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Ivy turned it off quickly and the triplets got dressed silently. Yolanda perched in Daisy's hair, and Zuri curled around Ivy's arm under her sleeve, so that her head could peek out. The girls knew they mustn't wake the Dursleys – that was the most important part of the plan. They quickly stole downstairs without turning on any lights, skilfully avoiding the creaky step.

Lily, Ivy, and Daisy were going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for Number Four first. Their hearts hammered as they crept across the dark hall toward the front door –

"Wait!" Zuri suddenly hissed in Ivy's ear. They all froze.

"What is it?" Daisy asked, looking around.

"Look!" Zuri said, gesturing with her head. She seemed to be pointing at the floor in front of the front door.

The triplets focused hard, and gasped as their eyes adjusted. It was Uncle Vernon, curled up in a sleeping bag right in front of the door, clearly trying to make sure the girls wouldn't do just what they were trying to do.

"The back door," Lily whispered, and the others nodded and quietly turned around.

The back door squeaked, but not very loudly, and the girls and their animals darted to the back gate, emerging out in the front garden and going quickly to the sidewalk before walking to the end of the block.

Just moments after they made it to their destination, the postman appeared.

"Excuse me, sir," Lily said, "But could we please have Number Four's mail?"

He frowned at them, confused, and Daisy quickly concocted an excuse.

"See, our dog – Ripper, he's called," (Ripper was Aunt Marge's favourite of her many dogs). "Well, he's taken to ripping up all the post when it comes in, so our Aunt and Uncle sent us to collect it."

For one breathless moment, the triplets thought perhaps it wouldn't work, but then the postman smiled ruefully and nodded.

"I've always hated dogs, meself." He said, ruffling through his bag. "Comes with the position, I suppose…Ah, here we are."

He procured a large stack of letters. There were at least forty of the thick envelopes now, along with one of Petunia's magazines and two bills.

"Quiet a lot there, be careful!" he warned, then bade the triplets good day and continued down the street. The girls shared triumphant grins, then ran for Number Four.

They got there just as Petunia had started the sink upstairs to wash her face and brush her teeth as she always did before coming downstairs (which the girls thought was silly; why brush your teeth _before_ you ate?). Their uncle was still snoring on the floor, so Daisy ran upstairs with most of their letters while Ivy carefully placed the other mail and a couple of their missives on their uncle's lap, as if the postman had delivered them. Lily started breakfast.

By the time Petunia and Vernon came in, the girls were almost done with breakfast and itching for the moment they could go upstairs and read their letters. Vernon grinned gleefully at them as he burned the letters on the stove and told Ivy to sweep up the ashes.

It was Saturday, and as usual the Dursleys planned to leave the girls with Mrs. Figg and go to the cinema to see a movie. Of course, Mrs. Figg was still recovering, thanks to Dudley, and no one knew what to do with them.

"We could lock them in their room, I suppose…" Uncle Vernon suggested.

"No, no, I don't want them here alone." Petunia said crossly, glaring at the girls. "We could take them and leave them in the car –"

"The car's new, they're not staying in that!" Vernon said.

There was a moment of silence, during which the girls wondered if they would end up seeing their first movie ever and if it would be possible to sneak Zuri and Yolanda with them (the animals were both upstairs eating), and then –

"Wait!" said Aunt Petunia, "What if we took them to that teacher's house…the one who's always nice to them? She's offered…"

Now the girls' spirits soared. Miss Burbage was their favorite teacher, and she was always nice to the girls. She had even – on a few occasions – taken the girls to a park and some museums under the guise of boring field trips.

"I don't know…" said Uncle Vernon worriedly. The girls knew it was because they would have fun with Miss Burbage, but then Ivy had an idea.

"Please, can't we go to the movie?" she begged, "We'll be very good, we promise!"

The three Dursley glared at the three girls.

"Oh, no!" cried Uncle Vernon, "You're not going to ruin our Saturday! We're calling this Burberry person right now!" he said, getting up from the table and going to the phone book.

The girls had proper looks of dejection on their identical, scared faces, but inside they were thrilled.

"What's the woman's name again?" he asked Aunt Petunia.

"Charity Burbage," answered Daisy for her. Uncle Vernon glared at her but flipped to the B's.

Thirty minutes later, the Dursley's left, warning the triplets that if they touched anything they would be locked in their room for the rest of the summer. Miss Burbage was on her way to pick the girls up after wholeheartedly agreeing to keep them, and assuring Uncle Vernon that they would have no fun at all.

As soon as the Dursley's car pulled out of the driveway, the girls went to work.

"I'll start the shower!" yelled Lily, running up the stairs.

"I'll get the iron!" said Daisy, disappearing into the laundry room.

"I've got the clothes!" yelled Ivy from their room.

Twice a week during recess, the triplets would help Miss Burbage: sweeping, grading papers, cleaning the chalkboard, and organizing books. Miss Burbage had a good amount of money she had inherited from her father after his passing, and offered to pay the girls for their work. They said no, of course; they just liked helping her, but she insisted. They used the twenty dollars between them every week to buy clothes from a second hand shop. They had hid them under their cot – and now in their wardrobe – so their Aunt wouldn't find them, and only used them when they went places with Miss Burbage.

Usually the girls were only allowed one shower a week, two in summer, but Lily hurriedly turned on the taps and got out some towels. They had a routine for the times when the Dursley's were gone.

After the water was hot, Lily ran downstairs, passing Daisy as they switched places. Ivy brought her one dress at a time, as they were hard to get out, and she ironed them.

After a few minutes, Daisy came down the stairs and Ivy went up. Daisy took Lily's place and Lily went to get their shoes so she could clean them.

The Dursley's had black leather shoe polish under the sink, and Lily quickly cleaned the shoes and started the polish, until Ivy came down stairs and Lily went up.

A few months ago, the girls had bought their own soap, shampoo, and conditioner to use when they could, as the Dursley's only allowed them quarter-sized amounts. They hid those in the very back of the top cabinet.

Lily washed quickly and ran back downstairs to get dressed. It had been about forty-five minutes since the Dursley's left and Miss Burbage lived a little less that an hour away. While the girls bustled about, Yolanda took free range of the house and flew all around, while Zuri alternated between slithering around the stair rail and following the girls around.

Finally, the girls were clean and dressed.

All three were wearing plain short sleeved dresses with white peter pan collars and brown shoes. Daisy's dress was yellow, Lily's was red, and Ivy's was green,

With at least half an hour to spare, the girls shared looks before dashing upstairs to their letters. Jumping on Lily's bed, which was in the middle, they each grabbed one, locked eyes, then simultaneously ripped open the envelopes and pulled out their letters at last.

_Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Potter,_

_We are please to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_Please find enclosed a list of all necessary school supplies. We await your owl by no later than July thirty-first._

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress._


End file.
